1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to mobile computing and, more particularly, to optimization of mobile data communications.
2. Background Art
As mobile computing platforms become increasingly ubiquitous, and with the availability of network access for the mobile computing platforms, it becomes desirable to provide users with as close an approximation to the experience of a full-featured computing platform as possible. In order to conserve space and battery power, mobile computing platforms, such as personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), frequently have small display screens, limited memory, limited processing power, and limited communications bandwidth. Such features of mobile computing platforms are often incompatible with the goal of providing users with a full-featured experience.
In order to improve the experience, intervening gateway devices have been employed for the purpose of optimizing data, such as a web page, being transmitted to a PDA. This transformation helps preserve the look-and-feel of many web pages, particularly those designed specifically for display on a PDA device, while simultaneously allowing the PDA to accomplish its goals related to portability.
One area that has been neglected thus far, and which is necessary to present a rich, interactive experience to a user engaging in data exchange with a server is the ability to rapidly update data as it is viewed by a user. For example, a user wishing to review his stock portfolio on a PDA is presented with a static list of his stock prices. If the user wishes to update the page to obtain the most recent stock prices, the user must refresh the page, causing the entire page to be downloaded again to the PDA. This process is extremely cumbersome for a device facing significant bandwidth, memory, and processing limitations.
Accordingly, what is desired is a system, method, and computer program product for the update of dynamic data within a web page on a mobile computing platform.